Page 37 of Hidden Obsession

Mason was relieved to have Travis helping him. “Thank you, man.”

Travis chuckled and shook his head. “Been a while since we got into any scrapes together. I miss it.”

“Yeah, we got into a few interesting situations.” Mason laughed at the memory.

They caught up on a few members of the team while they ate the delicious quesadillas before parting ways an hour later. He walked Travis to his car and watched him drive away in his red truck. He’d reached his own car when his cell rang. Sliding inside, he hit answer to Shane’s call.

“Mason, we have a problem. You need to get back here now.”

Mason stiffened at the urgency in his boss’s voice. He knew in that second it involved Cleo. “What happened?”

“Cleo is missing. We found her cell in your office and her things are still under her desk. I checked the last call she made, and it was to Spears.”

Mason slammed his hand against the steering wheel as he pulled the car into traffic. “Fuck. Do we have any idea where she may have gone?”

The silence on the other end of the phone seeped in, and he felt every muscle in his body tense as he waited for the blow he knew was coming.

“No, but Cain has lost Spears. Kingsley has gone to help him.”

Mason thought he was going to lose his lunch at the thought of his beautiful Cleo in the clutches of that sick bastard.

“Mason.”

Mason shook off the fear and tried to think like an agent instead. “Yes, sorry. Get Caitlin over to the hospital. If he has her, he has a weakness, and that’s his sister. No way would that man have left his followers in Arizona for so long if he didn’t care about his mom and sister. Put Knight and Nick on them. He doesn’t get near his family without me seeing him. If he has Cleo.” Mason stopped as his gut swirled at the thought. “If he has her, then we need them as a bargaining chip, and I’ll use anything to get her back.”

“On it.”

Shane disconnected as Mason drove the last two miles to the office. His head was a mess of emotions that threatened to fell him with their intensity, but he wouldn’t allow that. He had a job to do, and it was the most important one of his life. He needed to save the woman he loved from her nightmare, then he was going to put a fucking ring on her finger and keep her barefoot and pregnant so she stayed out of trouble.

For some reason, the thought cracked through his fear and made him smile. Cleo carrying his child. He liked it more than he’d ever thought possible, but it was the thought of what she would do if she ever found out he’d had the idea in the first place that made his lips twitch.

Cleo was smart and ballsy to go with her sweet, making her a dangerous combination for his heart, but it also made her strong, and he knew she would do whatever it took to stay safe until he could get to her. The only thing that would make Cleo weak was if someone she loved was in trouble.

Then like a hammer, it hit him. Jumping from the car before it had fully stopped in the Alliance compound, he ran to the door of the conference room and threw it open taking in the worried faces of every operative on the team as they all looked at him. “Her grandmother. Find out where she is.”

James was on it in seconds as he read Mason’s thoughts. “Her only weakness.”

“Exactly, and he wouldn’t care about using an elderly woman to get what he needs.”

A few minutes later, Emme was on the phone with Cleo’s grandmother’s neighbor who promised to check on her and then call them straight back.

It was a tense ten minutes as they waited for news. Each person in the room held a lot of affection for Cleo and her troubles had become their troubles. He flinched when he felt a hand on his back and turned to see Sydney, looking at him with determination.

“She’ll be okay. She’s strong and resilient.”

Mason nodded and covered her hand with his squeezing it. He didn’t say anything though because he couldn’t, his words were paralyzed with fear. He appreciated her comfort though and thought again how lucky Knight was to have found her.

It was not her that had pulled him from the fog of the coma though. It had been Cleo who’d read to him, railed at him, and just damn near demanded he come back to her. His Cleo, the love of his life, the woman who was now in the hands of a psychopath.